Nursing diagnosis in the chronically ill: methodology for clinical validation.

The identification and validation of nursing diagnoses that describe the phenomena of concern to nursing is a critical task. Methodological issues revolving around the conceptualization of nursing and the research approach have hampered this effort. This study used the human needs framework as a guide for the assessment and formulation of nursing diagnoses. A two-phase study was conducted. In Phase 1 five judges derived 51 nursing diagnoses using data from direct clinical observations of 50 subjects. In Phase 2 data from a second sample of 108 subjects were compared to Phase 1 data via computer analysis. Fifty of the 51 diagnoses were confirmed.

The nurse's role in nutritional management of radiotherapy patients.

The education of the cancer patient is a nursing responsibility. The authors feel strongly that individualization in diet therapy is most important. The guidelines, therefore, stress assessments, development of individualized diets, education, and periodic reassessment. The educational content includes information regarding the side effects, with known preventive and therapeutic measures. Measures that are acceptable, practical, and effective for one individual may to another individual be ineffective, impractical, or unacceptable. Since this is true, multiple alternatives have been given for each problem.